After I had completed my individual design idea for our magazine cover, using the photographs from filming, I showed it to my class to get some feed back on points that could be improved. By getting other peoples opinions on my design I can improve it to make it more appealing and eye catching. I asked the class to comment on design, colours, layout, font and typical conventions. This is what they said:
Layout
All of the important information is on the left which is good as it will be visible if the magazine was on a shelf with other magazines.
The date of the issue is included so the audience know which week they are looking at, but could be smaller.
The bar code typically goes over the top of images and does not have its own designated area so this should be amended.
I will be keeping all of the important information on the left hand side as I believe it is an important factor in selling magazines due to the way they are positioned on shelves, only the left side is visible. I will be making the date and bar code much smaller and placing the bar code over an image in my next draft so it does not take up important space where I could have another image or more tag lines.
Colours
The use of red connotes love which is relevant to the story lines.
The use of red and yellow gives firey connotations, which suggests something sinister and darker than appears.
The contrast between the background colours and the picture of George clearly shows that he is the antagonist as the picture is a lot darker.
I agree with these comments regarding colour and feel the comment about firey connotations is very relevant and fits in well with the story lines. I do not plan to change much in respect of the colour scheme when it comes to my next draft as I feel it works very well.
Layout
A section at the top of the page could be added to include pictures along the top, meaning the title and everything on the left side should be moved down and made smaller.
Extra pictures at the bottom add more detail by showing more story lines.
Some pictures should be cutout instead of in boxes.
I think having a section at the top for more pictures is a good idea as it is very typical to soap opera magazines. This will mean resizing the title and price on the left, which I think is necessary anyway as I think it might be a bit too big, taking up too much space. I also think cutting out some images instead of boxing them will work well as when they are in boxes it gives a very organised look and soap magazines are usually very busy and crowded. I also think I can fit more in this way.
Font
The font type is very clear and easy to read.
Use of capitals makes it very bold and helps it to stand out.
Similar fonts should be used for any more captions and text added.
I agree with these comments and feel the use of capitals does work well to grab attention as it helps the text to stand out from the background. I will definitely stick to the same font style when I add more text on my next draft as I think it works well throughout.
Typical Conventions
More tag lines needed.
More pictures should be added to fill empty spaces.
The price should be slightly smaller.
Issue number needs to be added.
When I create my next draft I need to include tag lines over the pictures because at the moment there isn't any. Tag lines are a very common convention to soap opera magazines and are important as they give a snippet of information about the storyline. It is important I add tag lines because they will gain more attention and the audience will become more interested. I will also add an issue number because it is an important piece of information to the consumers.
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